Our 2008 is our first and probably last Airstream we will ever own so we decided to make some livability improvements to the bedroom, kitchen and living area plus add some solar. We hope to take some extended trips in the near future and realized the 25fb floorplan could use some improvements. After looking at newer twin bed model Flying Cloud model Airstreams and decided we liked our Classic more than the Flying Cloud with ducted air. We honestly do not like the all aluminum interior and cabinetry of newer Airstreams. Since I still work we decided to get the work done professionally. The company we chose was A&P Vintage Trailer Works, Paradise, TX. They specialize in Airstream and Avion trailers renovations, repairs and maintenance and have received good reviews from other Airstreamers.

Here are some photos showing the twin beds and new nightstand. A battery disconnect switch is located in the street side cabinet. The curb side cabinet has the new Progressive Dynamics DC and Dual AC circuit boards.

We decided to have built a small kitchen cabinet with a couple of drawers and cabinet and Corian counter top. The allows more work surface and extra/easier access for pots/pans and flat items like cookie sheets, pans etc. The counter top is just below the curtain rails. The side couch has two Ultraleather cushions. I decided to remove the cushion closest to the fridge wall and put attach the cabinet. The back rest cushions were shorted but A&Ps upholstery vendor and they did an excellent job. I have the extra ultra leather if I decide to have some pillows made. The top drawer holds all out cutlery and the bottom can hold several frying pans, sauce pans and vegetable steamers. The side cabinet can be used for cookie sheets, cutting board and the sink cover. The storage under the the couch is retained. Their is still six feet of sleeping space available for a third person. The cabinet is at an ideal height for someone to eat from when sitting on the side couch. We can still seat 4 comfortable in the living area and the bedroom area can be used as a second conversational area.

Here is the new living area with Lambright recliner. The hickory table was cut down to about 26" wide. This allows the Lambright to swing from the eating/working position to the lounging position, perfect for watching TV. The table was cut away from the street side dinette seat so its easier lay along the dinette to side couch and have enough room for you shoulders and a cushion or pillow to watch TV. I realized when I ordered the Lambright the table height may be a little high but I didn't want to compromise the height for the street side dinette seat. I placed a cushion/pillow on the Lambright recliner and it raise you enough to make eating a little more comfortable. We will use the excess Ultraleather from the removal of the curb dinette cushions and side couch to have some pillows made to the same size as the Lambright recliner. The cushion just needs to be 2-3" to raise you up to a more comfortable height.

Kelvin - wonderful, inspiring work. Thanks for taking the time to post the photos and detailed explanations. I think you are going to have many years of great fun and comfort in that special coach! Joe

Here is the Truma Aquago water heater. Its a hybrid water heater, in that there is a small reservoir that is kept at 110F and then when a faucet is opened it runs the water which is heated up to 120F. The Truma will activate when the reservoir temperature goes below 110F and you can place it in a Eco mode to keep the reservoir at 40F to keep it from freezing when use is not anticipated. An off/switch is installed in place of the Atwood controls in the bathroom, just an on/off switch with a red LED that illuminates when active.

The reason I had my Atwood switched out is it used a lot of propane to heat up the water which would be burning propane for more than 1/2 hour. I used up most of one propane tank on my August trip to Montana last August. The Atwood was almost too hot at times with no way to adjust. However, the Truma is set to 120F. In cold weather, which we camped in after picking up, I discovered the water comes out hot, then you feel the water temps drop off for a few seconds before it gets hot again. I suspect the water out of the ice cold faucet doesn't get as hot through the heating section at first then catches up. I will have to use it over the season to get a better experience on how it works overall.

The last photo shows how to winterize the Truma. Just drop the yellow labeled door and remove the filter element and the small reservoir empties out. The water heater is still connected to the same diverter valves if you decide to use antifreeze.

Here is the Marmoleum flooring. A&P removed the dinette and side couch, queen bed then laid the floor in one sheet, including into the bathroom. Since a Marmoleum sheet is not a wide as an Airstream it was laid so any seams are under a bed, or living room furniture. The subtfloor was belt sanded and any irregularities were filled in and sanded smooth. The vendor A&P uses did a great job cutting around the hallway and bathroom. Quarter round molding stained to the hickory was installed in the hallway and kitchen cabinets. The style of this Maromrleum is Vivace, and the color is Donkey Island. http://www.forbo.com/flooring/en-gl/...-vivace/bofl1k

These are the two Maxims skylights. I choose the frosted white for the hallway. We keep the curtains drawn in the bedroom so the skylight adds nice defused natural lighting. In the living area I chose the bronze tint to help with the heat and still allow looking through to the sky or to observe the orientation of the Winegard antenna.

The solar combiner box is located over the bedroom such the cable can be run down between the shower stall and the shower bedroom wall into the street twin bed electrical area. The two MaxxFan Deluxe vent fans are shown. I find these a big upgrade to the Fantastic Fans I had. You can open them in the rain, the fans are quieter and they have a remote to adjust the fans speed, thermostat, lid open/close and fan direction.

While I was at A&P I had them weight the tongue weight using a Shoreline scale at the coupler. I was pleasantly surprised it was about 950lbs. A&P topped up th e LP tanks but the main tanks were pretty much empty.This seems to be about 100lbs less.

The mattresses we purchased were from Mattress Inside. After speaking with Aaron we decided a firmer mattresses was needed and went with there latex model with a CoolGel top. It took a couple of weeks to get them and they fit perfectly.

I forgot to mention in the solar installation, A&P, wired up a connector in the hydraulic actuator storage area to allow me to connect my 200w Zamp portable solar panel. I removed the Zamp controller off the panel and A&P attached the Anderson connector. So it ideal situations I can have 400 watts of solar and can park the trailer in shade and place the 200w portable in the sun.

A&P ordered
Truma water heater
Maxim skylights. I let A&P order these so they could provide the correct measurement.
Provided the solar and inverter fuse, circuit breakers, wires etc.
Marmoleum flooring
Outsourced the installation of the flooring the the upholstery modifications.

The project took about 3 months. The trailer was delivered on October 9th and picked up December 20th. I didn't give A&P a drop dead date as it was the end of the season and didn't want to put any pressure on them to rush the job plus they have other customers. A&P allowed me to camp overnight at their shop to play with everything. Our trip was delayed several days to the extreme cold that came through the midwest on October 17. I'm glad I waited several days.

Really nice job, Kelvin. We loved our recliners, but gave them up (at least temporarily) to get a dinette. We loved our twin beds so much (for me the extra length was the kicker) we got them in our new (to us) trailer. Your well thought out work at least matches, if not exceeds, the look of factory. Happy trailering!

In planning out the design of the twin beds and kitchen cabinet I made hand drawings on graph paper to get an idea of rough drawer and cabinet dimensions and placement. I scanned the drawings and sent them to A&P so they could understand my requirements. I think this helped them understand what I had in mind vs just trying to describe over the phone.

Attached is one of the drawings I sent to A&P. It matches the street twin very closely.

I also sent them links to Airforum user threads who had made twin bed and recliner conversion.

A&P could've built a folding dinette table but for us we always need the table up as I've always got a computer out or a camera, so we keep the table with either a table cloth or place mats out.

All these updates didn't come cheap. I suppose if I took the cost of purchasing our Airstream and these changes we could have probably been close to the price of a twin bed Flying Cloud but we wouldn't have the drawers under the twins or the extra one in the nightstand, no roof solar or Lifeline batterisz, battery monitors, Magnum inverter, kitchen cabinet, Lambright recliner, maromleum floor, Maxim skylights, MaxxAir vent, hickory cabinets, vinyl covered ceiling and the most important item; no mouse fur

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